Department of Mathematics and Computer Science

Using JDK - Summary

Create a folder (directory) for the project. I'll call it Example, in what follows.

Inside Example, create two subfolders (subdirectories), call
one src and the other class. In src you
will place the source code you write, and the compiled versions of this will go
in class.

Use an editor, WordPad, NotePad, or some other one, type your class
definitions, and save them in src. Make sure you save them as text
(txt) files, and make sure they have a file type of java.

Open the Command window, and change the working directory to be Example/src. Remember, you do this using cd. Typing cd .. moves up one level, and typing cd Name moves you
down one level, into the subdirectory Name. At any point, the
command dir (ls in Linux) will show the contents of
the current working directory.

When the working directory is Example/src, compile what you
typed. For this, enter

javac -d ../class *.java

The command javac is
the compile command. The -d specifies the directory in which the
compiled code will go. The part ../class specifies that this
directory should be the class directory (it moves the working
directory from src, up one level, then down into class). Finally, *.java says you want everything in src whose file type is java to be compiled.

If there are errors during the compile stage, go back to your editor and
correct them.

If there are no errors, change the working directory to class,
by typing cd ../class

Now run your program by typing java Something, where Something is the class you defined having main in
it.

If there are errors at runtime, return to your source code, correct them,
and recompile. Corrections are entered using your editor. To recompile, you must
first change the working directory back to src by typing cd
../src.